PRINCIPAL 

 INVESTIGATOR(S) 



Steven E. Lohrenz, 

 University of Southern Mississippi 

 Center for Marine Science 

 Stennis Space Center, MS 39529 



Vernon L. Asper 



University of Southern Mississippi 

 Center for Marine Science 

 Stennis Space Center, MS 39529 



Michael J. Morris 

 Ocean Optics, Inc. 

 Dunedin, FL 34698 



Roy A. Walters 

 Ocean Optics, Inc. 

 Dunedin, FL 34698 



PROJECT TITLE 



TIME-SERIES OBSERVATIONS OF FINE SCALE 

 DISTRIBUTIONS OF PIGMENT FLUORESCENCE IN THE 

 BENTHIC BOUNDARY LAYER USING A MULTI-SENSOR 

 FIBER OPTIC FLUOROMETER 



AMOUNT OF FUNDING FY 1994: $135 K 



SUMMARY OF GOALS 



In support of the Department of Energy (DOE) Ocean Margins Program's (OMP) goal 

 of quantifying cross-shelf and shelf-slope exchanges of particulate organic matter, we have 

 developed a multi-sensor fiber optic fluorometer capable of resolving fine- scale gradients in 

 pigment fluorescence in the benthic boundary layer. Our goals include relating temporal 

 variations in pigment fluorescence to physical (near-bottom velocity and shear) and biological 

 (water column productivity and pigment distributions, activities of benthic fauna) processes being 

 studied by other OMP investigators. Questions to be addressed by this research include the 

 following: 1) Is there significant resuspension and redistribution of pigments in the benthic 

 boundary layer? 2) Can gradients in pigment fluorescence be related to velocity and density 

 profiles in the benthic boundary layer? 3) How are gradients in pigment fluorescence related to 

 particle properties and distributions in the benthic boundary layer? 4) Is there a relationship 

 between variations in upper water column productivity and pigment concentrations and variations 



67 



